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‘Clock Tower: Ghost Head’ [aka: ‘Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within’]

[PS1] [JAPAN] [MAGAZINE, SPREAD] [1998]

“[Clock Tower: Ghost Head] is the third game in the Clock Tower series, and is considered a spin-off in its home country of Japan where it was not a numbered release. The story follows 17-year-old Yu Midoshima who suffers from multiple personality disorder with an alter ego named Shō. The player must guide Yu through various environments, altering between her normal and twisted personality, to uncover the secrets of her and her family’s past.

In America, Clock Tower: Ghost Head known as Clock Tower II: The Stuggle Within was met with negative reviews. Journalists heavily criticized the gameplay which they found to be poor due to its slow and dated point-and-click interface, as well its reliance on trial-and-error mechanics.

The story was criticized by some but found to be mature and creepy by others. Critics ultimately did not recommend the game except to those looking for an experience similar to Clock Tower (1996) and those looking for a game that, like a cult film, is flawed conventionally but redeemed by its willingness to stray from the mainstream.

In Japan, it seems to have a fanbase, and more popular than in America, as the fans tend to draw lots of fan art of it. ~Clock Tower: Ghost Head Wiki

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